HP farmers want govt to hire hunters for monkey culling

The Supreme Court’s refusal to stay Union environment ministry’s notification to declare monkeys, blue bulls and wild boars as vermin has prompted farmers in Himachal to seek help of professional hunters to kill monkeys.

The Union ministry of environment had declared monkeys as vermins in 39 tehsils of the Himachal Pradesh in May.(HT File Photo)

The Supreme Court’s refusal to stay Union environment ministry’s notification to declare monkeys, blue bulls and wild boars as vermin has prompted farmers in Himachal to seek help of professional hunters to kill monkeys.

To this, the state government has decided to seek suggestions from legislators, representatives of local bodies, youth clubs and panchayats to evolve a long term-strategy to curb the wild animal menace in the state that has forced the farmers to abandon traditional agriculture.

“We have sought suggestions from legislators and representatives to find a long-term solution to the wild animal menace,” forest minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri told Hindustan Times. The forest department has given a fortnight to legislators and ministers to give their suggestions.

“The monkey menace is not confined to a particular area or region, but is affecting the entire state. So, we want to get a feedback from stakeholders,” said Bharmouri.

Acceding to the request of the state government, the Union ministry of environment had declared monkeys as vermin in 39 tehsils of the state, but owing to religious sentiments and lack of skills, people did not come forward to kill the simians. So far, not even a single monkey has been killed. There are over two lakh monkeys in Himachal.

The farmers in Himachal say they lack expertise to kill the monkeys. “Hunting in Himachal was banned long ago and most of the people don’t know how to use a gun. We have been asking the state forest department either they engage professional hunters or they constitute squads at the panchayat level to kill monkeys, kisan sabha president Kuldeep Singh Tanwar. The government should define the mode of killing monkeys, he added.